I've always felt that when actors are type-cast as either comics or family-friendly (or by trade are, say, comedians), to utilise them in a role that totally contrasts their filmographies brings out their strengths as actors. This is one of the best examples of that. Robin Williams as Sy is impeccable. He makes the character at once friendly with his iconic charm and yet deeply unsettling- and sad.

There's an irony that I watched this film because Kane Parsons had said that Backrooms was inspired by One Hour Photo. For one, I absolutely see the comparisons in the film's utilisation of negative space, colour and setting (often feeling quite vacant). But also there's the element of me- delving deeper into the inspirations of a filmmaker by watching a film that's effectively parasocialism before the term became popular use. Through movies, I do a similar thing to Sy. I come to understand the person behind the film. See what they see. Maybe think what they think.

And One Hour Photo feels like it knows this. References to contemporary media litter the film (one of the most iconic being that of Evangelion, which is also a misunderstanding of the narrative which could read as Sy's own misinformed reading of the family through the photographs). Media feels like the primary lens by which we become parasocially attached. Photographs, films, TV, music, YouTube, Livestreaming. Audiovisual formats as the means by which we, the viewer, end up attaching ourselves to the subject or the creator of the image. Wanting to emulate them, think like them, even as far as feeling like we love them without truly knowing them. The proliferation of media references in One Hour Photo feel like a nod to the viewer- you are a onlooker too. An observer, feeling like you know things. After all, by the end of the film do we know Sy? Truly? We know he's lonely, but what else?

Sy is a mystery to the viewer as much as the Yorkin family is a mystery to Sy. And by crossing the threshold to become known is when observation becomes something else, something sinister.

This film was truly ahead of its time. Romanek really did something special with this film.

A promising film debut for Curry Barker with some phenomenal physical and body acting from Inde Navarrette. I enjoyed that this film didn't explain what happened to Nikki, and rooms for various interpretations existed (I quite like the readings of the film that relate Nikki's experience to people with BPD). It's impossible not to feel bad for Nikki- a woman violated at the whims of a cowardly man, and I was teared up at the end.

This is one of the few films where the use and reference of AI felt thematically relevant, and a condemnation of it. Bear's "research" with it comes off as surface-level without truly seeking to understand what Nikki might've been going through, and Nikki's generation of an image of the couple reflected the nature of the relationship (fake, inorganic, forced, uncanny). Curry Barker has also spoken in an interview about his dislike of AI which further adds to the sense that AI in the film was both a reflection of the contemporary and a thematically relevant non-endorsement.

I'm a massive fan of Eraserhead, and generally knew to expect that watching another Lynch film was to be frustrated, confused and left grasping at straws. My partner hated Mulholland Drive. I quite liked it.

It was a quintessential Lynchian film. Go in expecting a dream-like film, that's what you'll get. Granted, I prefer Eraserhead since it, from the get go, sets up a surreal film whereas this film presents a seemingly normal narrative crux and effectively abandons it by the midpoint.

But it's Lynch. I also quite enjoyed the Cowboy scene. Both well-written and rather funny.

I want to scream about the shot where Marianne is drawing her self-portrait. What a killer shot and gorgeous representation of the love between the two female leads. Beautiful.

I wanted to like this film. I've been a life-long Vocaloid fan, so the inclusion of music by the Vocaloid Producer Ryo and the star-studded list of animation talent on this should've made this a film I'd enjoy. I wasn't blind to the allusions to Vocaloid through Yachiyo too.

Unfortunately, I did not. I felt the film was too rushed, and dragged on the section that was effectively the characters playing League of Legends. I wasn't really sold on the character relationships due to the chaotic rushed nature of the start of the film.

If you loved Look Back, you'd love 100 Meters. In fact, I love it more than Look Back.

The stories I'm aware of from Uoto (Orb, 100M) both explore particular niches with clear ties to the creative experience and the pursuit of goals that drive the soul (truth and art respectively). Both works are incredibly powerful.

You don't need to be a runner to love 100M. You'll feel the energy of it regardless. I can't reccomend this film enough.

I hope I'll someday reach the finish line too, with a smile on my face despite it all.